Life Down on the Kelp Farm

Captain Bren Smith, owner of Thimble Island Oyster Co., farms some of his kelp in the Long Island Sound.
Benjamin Lowy for The Wall Street Journal

By

Joseph De Avila

Updated March 19, 2013 9:49 p.m. ET

BRANFORD, Conn.—From the bobbing deck of his 24-foot boat in Long Island Sound, a quarter mile from shore, Bren Smith pulled out of the water a rope draped with ribbon-shaped blades of fresh sugar kelp.

He grabbed a few handfuls of the green, nearly translucent variety of seaweed for samples he planned to serve at lunch with a chef and organic farmer. Mr. Smith, who has cultivated shellfish such as oysters and clams for years, is now also a seaweed farmer. He said his fellow fishermen have been skeptical.

"They think I'm crazy," he said. They ask, "'Why would anyone eat seaweed? It's stuff you find on the beach.'"

The Branford man hopes to become the first to market farmed seaweed from Long Island Sound. Asia dominates production in the $7.1 billion seaweed industry, and only a few companies in the U.S. harvest it. Seaweed is sold for sushi, for salads, as a dried snack and as a fertilizer ingredient, among many uses.

Most of those U.S. companies sell wild seaweed. Mr. Smith, the owner of the Thimble Island Oyster Co., hopes his locally farmed seaweed will appeal to foodies and chefs in the region.

ENLARGE

Prof. Charles Yarish grows a variety of kelp in the University of Connecticut's marine biology labs in Stamford.
Benjamin Lowy for The Wall Street Journal

"We have great resources [in Long Island Sound], and we think there is significant potential in this area," said Steven Reviczky, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Smith decided to diversify his commercial-fishing business by growing kelp in the winter—when he isn't as busy harvesting shellfish—and to reduce his crops' exposure to violent weather. The tidal surges associated with superstorm Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene stirred up mud that killed his shellfish.

While Mr. Smith awaits a state permit to sell the kelp, he is giving away samples to chefs and others.

"It's wicked clean," said Chef Brad Stabinsky of Chamard Vineyards and Bistro in Clinton, Conn. "I found it to be tender....It has a nice mineral component to it that I liked. It wasn't that powerful of seaweed at that stage of growth."

Mr. Stabinsky recently made a béarnaise sauce but swapped out tarragon for Mr. Smith's kelp and served that on top of raw oysters. "I loved it and my staff loved it," he said.

Mayur Subbarao of Bittermens Spirits, a liquor company in New Orleans, also has been experimenting with Mr. Smith's kelp by infusing various boozy concoctions with it. "I haven't had anybody say these things are weird," Mr. Subbarao said. "If anything, I think people are intrigued."

Mr. Smith's kelp got its start in a University of Connecticut lab in Stamford. Charles Yarish, a professor at the university who has studied seaweed cultivation for more than two decades, grows sugar-kelp seeds there for a project he runs with Purchase College in New York. He also grows a red, bushy seaweed called gracilaria.

Nature groups like the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and government-funded research organizations such as Connecticut Sea Grant and the Long Island Sound Study sponsored Mr. Yarish's seaweed project to show how seaweed can keep nutrient pollution in check.

For decades, discharges by wastewater treatment plants and land runoff have led to excessive levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus in Long Island Sound. Nutrient overloads lead to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, which can kill fish.

Seaweed can help. "They suck up a lot of dissolved nutrients," said George Kraemer, professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at Purchase College.

Regulations in Connecticut pose one hurdle to the industry, said Tim Dowding, professor-in-residence at the University of Connecticut's School of Business. The seaweed needs to be tested for toxins such as mercury and pathogens such as salmonella. That can be a time-consuming process, he said.

Some of his students who are studying how to start businesses processing seaweed for products such as fertilizers have experienced long waits for state approvals. "The challenge is cutting through the bureaucratic quagmire," Mr. Dowding said.

"Anything like this that is breaking new ground is a challenge and takes time," said Mr. Reviczky of the Department of Agriculture.

In water 20 to 25 feet deep just off the Thimble Islands, Mr. Smith has set up two, 150-foot lines of rope that are submerged about three feet below the water's surface and held into place by chains and 400-pound anchors.

The kelp seeds, grown on a string back at the university lab, are wrapped around the 150-foot lines.

Sugar kelp is best harvested after one month to three months, when it has reached one to three feet in length, Mr. Smith said. Much longer than that, and it becomes rubbery.

He plans to harvest about two tons of sugar kelp by the end of the winter season. Next year, he's shooting for 21 tons. He admits it is far from certain whether he will find enough chefs and regular consumers who want a fresh, local option for kelp.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.